Be Forever Blue
by Blythe-Mizuno
Summary: Spike has a bounty on his head for something he didn’t even do. Jet leaves the Bebop. Julia comes back. Ed and Ein leave. Faye is kidnaped by Vicious. Spike has suicidal thoughts, and finds out that he and Julia have a daughter. And on top of that, The
1. News

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop in any way, shape or form. Alas, this girl does have dreams... sniffle

**Be Forever Blue**

**Chapter One: News**

Julia finally crawled out of bed at about one o'clock that afternoon. She was such a wreck. Sweaty, matted hair, and puffy, red eyes from crying. It had to have been the millionth time in three years that she had woken up like that.

She showered, ate a muffin, got the newspaper, sat down hard on the lumpy couch and relaxed as she watched the news. Spike's picture was on the screen.

"Former Red Dragon syndicate successor Spike Spiegel has reportedly come back. He has begun a violent bloodbath. He has killed the three Elders and many of his own subordinates. He was last seen exiting the ceremony hall. We warn everyone to take caution, as he is armed and dangerous. His description: six-foot-two white male, mismatched eyes, fluffy green hair, and the name Julia tattooed on his left calf. He has a bullet wound on his right shoulder as well. If you or anyone you know has any information at all on this man, please call this number: 333-589-hey-icaught-abadguy. Again, the number is:"

flick

Julia turned off the television and changed her clothes from sweats and a tee to a black sweater, pair of pants, shoes, sunglasses and trench coat. She grabbed her gun and keys and left the apartment as quick as she could.

She just had to find Spike...

His friends always told him that some things were better left unsaid. But he didn't really understand why. Things would have been better in Julia hadn't promised to leave with him in the first place.

For the longest time, Spike was really depressed, sometimes even suicidal. But as he would hold the cold had gun, his favorite Jericho 941, he would look at Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein, and for some reason reconsider.

One day, after reconsidering, he sulked on his bed and turned on the radio. It was on his favorite song, currently the high point of the day. He stopped moving and listened.

"_it's too late to cry 'I love you'_

_the wind still blows_

_my heart still aches_

_one of my eyes sees tomorrow_

_and the other side sees yesterday_

_I wish I could sleep peacefully in the cradle of your love, again_

_cry for me, somebody, with dry eyes_

_so long, be forever blue_

_I just want to feel a real sorrow_

_it's not bad_

_a life drowned in a river of mud_

_hopeless hope_

_and the chance with traps_

_what's right or wrong?_

_which side of the coin?_

_how long must I live on until I'm free?_

_so long_, _be forever blue_

_I just want to feel a true happiness_

_knowing all that glitters isn't gold"_

Spike grinned as the song ended. Julia love that song too. How he missed her so... The next song ended very quickly, then the DJ's voice reappeared.

"You just heard 'Blame' by Rachel Toups. Before that, we had the duet of Mac Mckeithan and Kourtney Rollins, 'Be Forever Blue,' finally reaching number one on February's charts. And now, we have Sharon Probst with breaking news. I'm Nick Keller, over and out."

"There has been some serious heat withing the Red Dragon syndicate ever since those two hundred people left on that cold February day three years ago. One of them came back today, starting a violent bloodbath. It has been reported that the man's name is Spike Spiegel and he has killed the three Elders, many of his own subordinates, and the current successor. His description goes as follows: six-foot-two white male, mismatched eyes, fluffy green hair, and the name Julia tattooed on his left calf. He has a bullet wound on his right shoulder as well. If you or anyone you know has any information at all on this man, please call this number: 333-589-hey-icaught-abadguy. Now, today's weather report. Sunny all through Mars today..."

Spike turned off the radio, his eyes were wide open in disbelief. _That's not me! I haven't seen that place for three years!! Someone's gonna pay for framing me like that!! _He though, completely angry. Then there was a knock on his door.

"What is this crap I hear about you going back there?!" It was Faye, obviously. She just let herself in.

"You know, there is no point in knocking on someone's door if you're just gonna let yourself in."

"Who cares!!? Answer my question! When did you do this?"

"You know, you would have felt pretty foolish if I hadn't been in here at all. Jet would be thinkin' you were talkin' to yourself again..."

"Stop changing the subject!"

"Faye, that's not me."

All has quieted down at the Red Dragon building. The bodies of the dead littered the floor, and their blood was spilled all over the place. Vicious and Shin walked down the ceremony hall.

"Who did you hire, anyway?" Vicious asked.

"A man who names himself 'Imperfect'. He's supposedly a master of disguise."

"And he does well?"

"Yes, now everyone thinks it is in fact Spike Spiegel. It's all over the news, radio, and now on Callisto there are wanted signs for him. The ISSP is on it as well."

"So how much is the bounty?"

Shin looked at his feet, ashamed of betraying his "big brother" for money. "Fifty Million Woolongs, double if he is caught alive."

"Good. Very good. So how good is this 'Imperfect' gonna be for us?" Vicious grinned a very thin line.

"Well, on Saturn, he wiped out three major cities at once. On the battlefields of Titan, he killed four hundred men single handedly."

"I know he can kill, Shin, but what about his disguise skills?"

"Well, he has the galaxy fooled, doesn't he?"

Vicious shot a look at him. "Don't get smart with me, or you'll regret it."

Julia's car sped down the highway as fast as she could. She knew it wasn't Spike, and she had to find out what was going on between the Red Dragons. But how would she approach Spike after she left him?

**There is no need to believe...**


	2. But Home Is Nowhere

**Be Forever Blue**

**Chapter Two: But Home is Nowhere**

"What do you mean that's not you? Of course that's you!" Faye yelled.

"I'm tellin' ya! It ain't me! It's someone else who looks like me!!"

"So that wasn't your mug shot on 'Big Shot' today? That wasn't you? Who was it then?"

"How am I supposed to know that?? Someone's framed me, again." Spike looked at his syndicate picture. He was better back then. He was the framer, not the framed...

"Someone from the syndicate? Who?" Faye took a second to look in Spike's mismatched eyes. Why were his eyes such different colors anyway?

"Probably Vicious."

"Why is he so against you? I thought you guys were friends."

"Because I took Julia from him."

"You mean she was with him first?"

"Yeah." Spike never realized how much it hurt to remember that she _was _with Vicious first...

"Yuck! Who would wanna be with him?"

"Don't ask me. But he was much better looking back then..."

"Well, do you know how much you're worth? Fifty Million, that's how much! And it's double if they take you down alive!"

"Well don't worry, I won't be taken alive. And since when did you get so concerned?" Spike sent Faye a sharp glare.

"Well, you can sulk over your lost love all you want! Because I don't care, and I'm not concerned!" She slammed the door on her way out of his messy room.

Spike grinned as he got dressed and grabbed his gun and the keys to the _Swordfish II._ He left the Bebop in search of his long lost love.

Jet walked into the Bebop right after Spike left. "What's going on?"

Faye looked up, tears in her eyes. "I guess Spike is leaving to go find Julia. Did you hear about his bounty? Fifty million... double if caught alive..."

"Well, I'm leaving too. But just to go live with Alisa. I'm not planning on taking the Bebop with me, so you can buy it for the price of Spike."

"You know I can't afford that! And I'm not turning Spike in!"

"I know you won't buy it, that's why I'm offering..."

"I don't care! I'm going after him."

"Good luck. He's probably already gone now, Faye. He's not comin' back."

Faye left on the _Redtail,_ and somewhere in Jet's heart, he hoped that Spike wouldn't get caught. He knew it wasn't him.

Julia stood before the Red Dragon's building. Was Spike in there? Was it just another trap? She had been through that before. Traps. Why was she so gullible? She opened the doors and began walking to the ceremony hall. When she stood before the dark crimson doors of the hall, memories overwhelmed her...

_It was the day that Vicious and Spike were accepted into the syndicate. They received their badges, ID's and their codes and passwords. It was just after the ceremony, it was reception time... Julia was standing by the_ _door, ready to go home with Vicious, when Spike came up to her. "So, you're Vicious' woman? Julia, right? Heard all about you..." "Spike Spiegel, right? I saw your ceremony ten seconds ago. It's about time I met you. Vicious talks about you all the time." "Really? What does he say?" "Just about what a good shot you are. How you want to live free, even when joining a tight syndicate..." "So, are you in the syndicate, too?" "Yeah, I am. I'm only a third degree lackey to the Elders, though. But I'm not into cheap shooting at all." "Killed anyone yet?" Julia laughed. "Of course not! Third degrees don't ever get to kill. Thank the gods..." Spike laughed greatly, and Vicious came up behind him. "Ready Julia?" "Yeah, I'm ready. Nice to have finally met you, Spike Spiegel." "Yeah, I know." Julia laughed again, and Vicious grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. "Later Vicious." Spike said. "Bye." Vicious and Julia went home and Spike stayed there thinking._

She smiled bitterly. That was where she first met Spike. Right behind these doors. She loaded her gun, and walked inside, half-expecting to be attacked at once. But there was nothing in that room but the dead bodies of the syndicate members and the mutilatedbodies of the elders in the corner. Nothing but blood all over the walls and floor. She knew Spike wasn't capable of doing all of that by himself. Why would he do that anyway?

"Is anyone alive?" She yelled.

"Yes. It's me. Shin."

"Shin? Oh my gosh! How did you live through this? Who did this anyway?"

"I'm involved. I was on Vicious' side. It was Vicious who made me hire this guy who calls himself 'Imperfect'. He's dressing up as Spike and causing havoc within the syndicate." Shin looked much more depressed than usual.

"Slow down and breathe. Who's 'Imperfect'?"

"Supposedly a master of disguise. We're paying him well. He does a great job."

"And you wanted to do this because..."

"It's not me!! Okay? It's Vicious who wants to do away with Spike!! I'm sick of people pinning it on me!!"

"Hey! I'm not pinning this on anyone! Not yet. So why are you with Vicious? Why be on his side instead of trying to find Spike and warn him?" Julia took Shin by the shoulders and shook hard.

"I'm only protecting the order. Or at least that's what Vicious is claiming." He looked away from Julia's piercing gaze.

"Okay, I can see you have no interesting information for me. So you can go on and do your thing. But first, where's Vicious?"

Spike sat at the counter of Annie's store, drinking again.

"So what brings you here?" The heavy-set woman asked him, filling up the shot glass to the top with whisky.

"How long has it been since you seen Julia?" Spike replied, very depressed.

"About three years ago. I saw her on Tharsis at the _Yellow Rose_ bar. She was really down. I couldn't talk to her, since she fell asleep after she said 'hi'."

"Do you know anyone who would know where she is?"

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, she got along with the bar tender pretty well. He might have some information for you."

Spike nodded a thanks and left as he finished his drink.

At least now he had a trail...

Ed sat at her computer, goggles on as always. "Ed's gonna find you! Ed's gonna find you! Where art thou, oh fair Julia-person? Spi-Spi is searching too! You are loved! Yes! You are loved! Yes! You are! Yes!" She gasped. "Oh! I have found her! I have found her! Codename Julia! Oh, Spi-Spi!"

"Spike's already gone looking for her Ed. He's in trouble anyway," Faye said from behind.

"Spi-Spi? In trouble?" Ed took in a heavy gasp again. "NO!!"

Faye laughed. "Yeah. So you can track him down too."

Edward said nothing and got right to work.

Spike stood before the _Yellow Rose _bar. So this is the place. What if she was in there now? He only hoped that she would be.

He walked up to the bartender and held up Julia's picture. "I'm looking for this woman."

The bartender grinned as he took the picture. "This woman. Her name was Julia. She was in here about four times a week for a month three years ago."

"You remember her?"

"Yeah. She was pretty beautiful. Very sexy. You know, she had that mysterious aura around her. She had the same thing every night..." He put away a glass he was cleaning.

"You know where she went? Could you at least tell me about someone who might know?"

"I believe she said she was going to Lady's Peak, a very unique small town in Ganymede. Now, I'm busy, hope you find her."

Spike left immediately. _Ganymede, huh? Maybe she went back to the syndicate..._

Julia made her way to the grand hall, where Vicious lay in wait. She looked around very carefully. He was on the back wall, a glass of dark red wine in his hand. "So, Vicious. Still a vicious murderer?"

"Your wry sense of humor disgusts me. So do a few other things." He smashed the wine glass to the floor, and the red liquid was all over the floor. "I know what you and Spiegel were up to. Gonna run away, huh? Gonna leave your man for a sewer rat? It couldn't happen! I would have you killed rather than let you be with him."

"I was with him for a long time before I even left!" Julia aimed her gun and shot. She missed. She had also forgotten how powerful guns were. Her weapon of choice had always been a field knife. Suddenly, Vicious had her hands behind her back.

"So, when did he get you knocked up?"

"How did you know about that?" Julia was stunned.

"Well, between my spies and the medical records I hacked from the hospital's computer, I found out that you first lost the baby, and then when you gave a successful birth, you named her Samara."

"So you hack into a hospital's computer, had people spy on me, and know my daughter's name. What else did you find out?" She asked cooly, trying to figure out how to escape.

"Well, where should I begin? Should I start that you couldn't keep your daughter, so you put her in the only convent on Venus? Spike had a connection with a nun there, and she took her off your hands for free. Of course, you didn't even tell Spike she was born. On your twenty-fourth birthday, you promised Spike to run away with him to Ganymede. Just like in a dream. I know more, but I'll end it in this. You were both put into a mental hospital because of you losing the baby. You both felt so guilty because you 'fell down the stairs'."

"It was you! You hired Lin to push me, didn't you? You knew the whole time! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Who needed to say something when I was going to have you kill him anyway?" He grinned that freaky grin that he grinned only when he had his most horrible plans in mind. "So I've got to go now. Why don't you stay for a smoke?"

He lit a match and dropped it on the spilled wine, it all burst into violent flame, and there was Julia, sitting there with her hands and feet tied together. Helpless on the floor. She just had to get out somehow.

"Someone help me!" She cried. "Shin! Help!" She got into a coughing fit from the smoke. The whole room was on fire, and Vicious had already escaped. "Help!" Julia tried to keep speaking, but she fainted before she could continue. But in her mind, all she could think was, _I have to see Spike. I have to tell him about Samara..._

But just as she thought she would die, someone very familiar came, untied her hands and carried her out of the room.

She opened her eyes later and she wasn't in the Red Dragon's building anymore. She was on someone's ship. She sat up and she was only wearing her bra, someone's boxers, and her locket that Spike gave her for her twenty-fourth birthday. She saw that Spike was laying beside her on the bed, and she was just so happy. She missed that so much. Tears were in her eyes right away. She laid back down and watched Spike sleep, giving a small giggle when he snored.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. "Hey."

"Hey." Julia sobbed.

"I thought you'd never wake up. It's been a week since you fainted." He smiled. His skin was burned to a blistering crisp.

"No." She whispered. "It's been three years. I have so much I have to tell you." She touched his burned cheeks carefully, and he still cringed when she touched them. "I'm so sorry that I left you like that. I hope you can forgive me for a few days."

"I heard everything when you and Vicious were talking." He pulled her very close, and she buried her face in his chest. "You do have a lot of explaining to do."

**There was nothing to believe in...**

A/N: Please review on these two chapters. I need to know if I can continue.

Love,

Forsaken

p.s. if you want, e-mail me if you want me to alert you when the new chapter is up. I see some writers are doing it, so I'll attempt. My e-mail is either or 


	3. Reunite

**Be Forever Blue**

**Chapter Three: Reunite**

"So, why did you have to leave? And why did you promise me that you'd come that day?" Spike asked gently.

"I guess I didn't know what else to say. I wanted to go! I really did! But I had to leave because Vicious wanted you killed by my hand after he found out about the fooling around and losing my baby." She replied very quietly, not knowing who might be around the corner of the open door. Even more tears filled her eyes.

Spike shushed her. "It's okay. Please don't cry. Just tell me the truth. When was our daughter born? And which convent did you put her in?"

Julia took a deep breath. She was born on February 19, 2068. She should still be at the Saint Pauline's Convent on Earth. I wanted to tell you, but by then you had left Mars and I had no idea where to find you. I was really weak, and had to get some cheap doctor on Ganymede to do the delivery."

"The one in the alley?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

"He does a cheap job of everything. Faye's hand got infected right after seeing that doctor. And Jet's leg didn't heal for about a year. But he was the only medical service we could afford."

The two of them just looked at each other for the longest time. Julia had forgotten how lost she got in his eyes when she looked deep within them. And Spike had forgotten how worried he really was when she didn't show up in the grave yard that rainy day. But now he had her back. And he wasn't going to lose her again.

"So, what's her name?" Spike finally broke the peaceful silence.

"Samara Faith Spiegel. She is yours you know." Julia closed her eyes and leaned on him. She forgot how soft he was.

"Beautiful name. Where did you hear it at? And yeah. I pretty much figured that she was mine."

"I saw Samara in a movie. And Faith is just what I rely on and I think it's a gorgeous name." She breathed very quietly while she listened to Spike's heartbeat.

"I want to know the truth on this one, okay. Just the truth. I want to know why you fooled around with me instead of Vicious. He was your fiancé.." He held Julia's shoulders very firm and smiled again. His gentle mismatched eyes stared deep into her core.

"I loved you. I never loved Vicious."

"Then why did you agree to marry him?"

"He had a gun against my head." She looked away out the door and was surprised to see another woman standing there when Spike had always been faithful. Her jaw dropped and she looked back at Spike. She was suddenly very angry. "Who's she?"

Faye walked inside. "Don't worry, we're not seeing each other at all. Merely partners in bounty hunting. In fact, we can hardly stand to be in the same room sometimes. I'm Faye Valentine." She stuck out her hand to shake Julia's.

"Julia." She faked a grin.

"Julia what?"

Julia looked at Spike, a little worried because she never knew her last name. Spike grinned and nodded his approval. "Spiegel."

Faye was very surprised that Spike and Julia shared the same last name. "I didn't know you guys got married."

"We didn't." Spike looked at Faye very closely. He knew she liked him. And he was looking to see if she had any weapons on her. Women do very strange things when jealous.

"Then I'm confused. Spike Spiegel! Are you seeing your sister?!"

"No!"

"I don't know my last name! And Spike and I may even get back together someday!" Julia hoped that it would happen. But he might not even forgive her.

Faye was stunned. She did love him! And she never realized it until she saw him with another woman. "Um... Okay. I have to go now. I'm leaving. Right now. Bye." She backed away and waited inside the doorframe.

"Close my door." He yelled, and cringed, as his mouth being wide open hurt his scorched lips. He cursed out loud with pain.

"Have you seen the doctor for that?" Julia looked worried about him.

"No. And my other partner's gone. I don't know where he went. He's pretty much the doctor on board. For some things anyway. Anyway, I'm really sorry about Faye. She can be such a horrible person most of the time. I would stay away from her if I were you." Spike ran his hand through Julia's soft golden-blonde hair.

"I see."

"Anyway, more questions. What ever happened to the apartment you lived in? Didn't you leave the rest of your stuff there?" He asked.

"I left almost everything. I don't know if someone lives there or not. I'm not even sure if the building is still standing or not!" She laughed softly.

"Do you want to go find out? You can move in with me if you want to." Now he was caressing her pale face.

"I want you to meet Samara." Julia stared. "I don't even know her very well. I had to give her up after three weeks."

"Okay." He was nervous. More nervous than he had ever been before. "I guess I'm ready."

"She looks just like you, too." Julia was nervous too. She didn't remember Spike ever being around little kids before. She didn't know how he would react. "Okay then. When do you want to go? You don't look up to traveling at all."

"Um..."

"What about next week. Then maybe by then your burns will be okay. You look exhausted." She ran her fingers through his dark green hair.

"I forgive you. It's not your fault."

She smiled and tried to hug him without hurting him, but it just didn't happen that way. She choked back more tears. She was glad that she was with him again.

"Oh, no, Julia. Don't cry. I hate it when women cry. It makes me wanna cry too!" Spike joked.

"Well, I guess I can't help it. I've been pretty weak since I left."

"Now you know how I felt."

A week later, Spike's burns did heal. Not very well. They were really blistered. Julia got some new clothes that Spike stole from Faye. And he said he didn't know that Faye had some actual long pants and big tee shirts. But later, Julia went shopping for some of her own clothes. She met Edward and Ein. And once Jet came back to finish getting his bags, and she got to meet him.

They left for the Saint Pauline's Convent on Earth on a Sunday. It was warm, but very, very rainy. Spike and Julia hadn't felt so good while they were together for that short time. Very seemingly soon, they pulled up in front of a huge building left in ruins. It was completely destroyed.

**It's better to have a real solitude all by yourself...**

Author's Note: How dramatic! I still won't cry, though. I'm much stronger than many people think... Anyway, if you want, e-mail me for recent updates and to be me friend... sniffle Do you think I have any real friends?

Forsaken


	4. No One's There

**Be Forever Blue**

**Chapter Four: No One's There **

It was completely abandoned. There wasn't really anything alive there. No plants, no animals, no visible insects, nothing at all.

"Are you sure this is the place? Nobody's here." Spike asked.

"I'm positive. I wonder what could have happened." Julia suddenly saddened again. Tears swelling in her eyes again, she thought hard. _I know that I put her here three years ago. What if Spike never gets to see her? What if she's — no! I can't let myself think like that! Vicious knew where I registered her at... maybe he took her! _She looked up and at Spike, her mouth wide open.

"Vicious! He has her! He must! He said he knew where I registered her at, and so, to blackmail us in some twisted way, he kidnaped her and blew up the convent so that we'd be confused and, and, we are! Oh! I figured out the plan!"

"Great! So what now? Back to the syndicate?"

"No! Back to the Bebop! He could have spies all over the place here! Remember how many times I had to push you out the door because I saw a guy standing on my balcony? They were all Vicious' spies."

Spike nodded his head and they got in the car and drove back to the garage where the _Swordfish II_ was docked. When they got to the Bebop, nobody was home. No Edward. No Ein. No Faye. Of course there was no Jet. There was, however, a note on the door of the hangar. From Faye.

_Spike and that one chick,_

_Left. The kid and the mutt are with me. Went to Callisto but dropped kid and mutt off on Earth. Somethin' about Ed's dad... Anyway, took the cash and the _Redtail. _Might not come back. Nice workin' with you. Nice meetin' the slut, hope you are all happy with your kid. _

_Later,_

_Faye_

Spike finished reading the letter aloud and looked confused.

"I am not a slut!" Julia yelled, still knowing that only Spike could hear. But then she thought, maybe she was...

"Nope. Why would she take Ed to Earth? Does Ed have a dad?" He thought of what her father might look like, and was completely disgusted with the image. "Ew..."

"What?"

"Just grossing myself out..." He stopped, and his eyes grew wide. "Go to the bedroom and get a gun, quickly. They're all under my bed."

"The people?"

"No! The guns!"

Julia ran as fast as she could to Spike's bedroom.

The many footsteps grew thicker and louder, and suddenly, Spike heard glass shatter and bullets ricochet off of the metal floor. Six men in Red Dragon syndicate uniforms and black trench-coats ran in, guns blazing. Spike darted behind the old yellow couch and fired back. Julia stood in the doorframe of his room on the staircase and shot as many men as she could. Half of them were down, but they whistled and even more came in, and even faster this time.

Spike shot until he ran out of bullets. Then he ran to his room and grabbed three more pistols and a ton more ammunition. He gave Julia one of the guns and resumed the fight.

Julia ran out of bullets in her first gun, and didn't know what to do with it, so she stopped and chucked it at one of the guys and knocked him dead, much of a surprise to her. But then another guy got a chance to get even closer and began shooting at her. She ducked into Spike's room and tried to shoot the guy from there, but no bullets were coming from the gun.

"Spike! There are no bullets in this one!" She cried in despair.

"Which one did I give you?"

"I don't know! But none of these bullets fit!"

"I thought you knew stuff about guns!" Spike yelled back, and more and more men came in. "I forgot how big this syndicate really is!"

"What do I do?!"

Spike tossed his other gun to her. "This one's loaded this time!"

Julia grabbed the other one and shot before she could get a good grip and shot her hand instead of the guy. She screamed with the pain. The scream stopped everybody because it was so sharp. Spike took the opportunity to shoot them all down with no trouble at all. But then even more men ran in. "Could you do that again, Julia? Just lose the shooting your hand part."

But she wasn't listening. She was even more angry than before, and took another, even bigger gun from under the bed and shot down ten guys at once. Amazed, Spike stared at her while he shot. When all of the enemies were down, no more came in. Julia stepped off the stairs and stood next to Spike while she wrapped one of the dead men's scarfs around her hand.

"You okay?" Spike asked, taking her hand and unwrapping it to see that the bullet went straight through the bone. "Never mind. I can see why you screamed. And thank everything that you did! We won 'cause you screamed so loud!" He smiled but cringed because Julia was in pain, and he couldn't stand to see her shake and cry like that.

"I'm sorry. But it hurts so much..." But she stopped there and got her gun ready. Vicious, Faye, a little girl and some guy who looked exactly like Spike walked in. Faye's hands were behind her back, and the little girl had tape over her mouth.

"Vicious. Been a while, huh?" Spike said slowly. Faye looked pathetic.

"Yes, it has, hasn't it? I believe these two belong to you." Vicious pushed Faye and the little girl forward. "You were right, Julia. Everything you said was right. You read the plan like a book."

"Let's just say I know your pattern, Vicious. So who is this guy?" Julia questioned.

"This is Imperfect. He's our Master of Disguise. But you probably know that plan too."

She said nothing, but looked down at the little girl. Then a name escaped her lips. "Samara..."

"Yes. This is your daughter. Sweet little Samara Faith Spiegel. She bites, you know. She bites hard!"

"Yeah well, you deserved it. You were a strange guy taking her away from the only home she ever knew, I assume." Spike looked at Samara. She looked just like him, except for her hair, golden blond like her mother's.

But then, Imperfect left the Bebop, swiftly, almost unseen. He just left, for no reason.

"Wait! You're supposed to be working for me! Come back!" Vicious yelled. He pushed Faye out the door and picked up Samara as he walked out after Imperfect. "This isn't over yet. You two started the war, now you are both going to finish it! We resume in one week. I've gotta go track down my guy." He left.

Spike and Julia stood there. Spike silent and Julia stifling a cry. She hadn't cried so much in a single month as she had while she was back with Spike again.

"Do you want to go after them now, or in a week?" Spike asked.

"I don't care. It's up to you. _I _started the war. You can stay. I'll go if I must." She looked up at him, suddenly so angry at herself for coming out of hiding anyway. He wouldn't be in so much danger if he hadn't saved her that day. He wouldn't have gone that week with those horrible burns on his body.

"We're both staying and resting here. You need to relax. It wasn't you who started the war. If anyone is to blame, it's me. I shouldn't have asked you to leave with me. Or have gotten you pregnant. That must have been so bad for you, and I wasn't even there to be with you for all that time..."

"It wasn't your fault at all!" Julia screamed at him. "Nothing is your fault! You couldn't be there because I left! We were both in the psychiatric place because I wanted that baby and the guilt of being pushed down the stairs just shot me through the heart! And then you felt bad because I was pathetic and crying all the time, and you said yourself that you always hated women who cried all the time, and yet you felt sorry for me because... because..." She had to stop and catch her breath, but by then, Spike put his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"It's not your fault either. It's nobody's fault, if we go both ways. Now, we're staying for a few days, then we're leaving to fight. Okay?" He pulled her close and they were drawn into a long, lingering kiss. When they were finished, Spike smiled, more than he had for three years. "I missed that!"

Julia laughed, at least she had him to herself for a little while... "Why do we have to go and fight anyway? I mean, besides getting Samara back. Why don't we all just run away together, just like we were?"

"It's the duties of the life I live. I don't know why, but if I let Faye die, and Vicious win, then It'll just make things worse for everyone. Now, lets go to sleep. You can sleep in Faye's bed, Jet's old bed, Ed's old bed, or in my bed with me. You pick."

Julia fell asleep with Spike by her side. Unfortunately, they didn't know it was the last time that it would ever happen...

**Go fulfill your life's duties...**


	5. Like The Smell Of Burning Newspaper

**Be Forever Blue**

**Chapter Five: Like The Smell of Burning Newspaper**

They stood before the Red Dragon Headquarters, they didn't know what was going to happen. They were very silent while they walked in. Nothing was going on inside, it seemed abandoned. But they knew it wasn't. If anyone was here, then they would be Vicious' subordinates, obeying his every command in hope that he wouldn't kill them when he was done with them.

Julia was shaking again. Last time she was here she had skirted the border between life and death once more. But then, once again, Spike had saved her, just as he always did. He always made sure that she was okay before he took care of himself. Even if she was just panicking the slightest bit and he was bleeding all over. Why was she with Vicious all that time? Spike was the one who truly cared! Vicious didn't care about her at all! To him, she was just a toy. A useless, stupid insecure, hopeless, romantic, unwanted, broken up, lingering, abused toy! It made her so angry just to think about it. Vicious would die tonight, if the last thing she did was kill him! She reached for Spike's outstretched hand and felt much better. His skin was rough and tickled her smooth milky hands. She wondered what he was thinking about. His hand seemed more tense than usual. She loved him more than anything in the whole galaxy, she wasn't going to let him go again!

Spike could feel that Julia was shaking violently just by feeling her hands. She seemed very paranoid about something. But what? Vicious? He would never let Vicious get to her, or hurt her again. It was bad enough that he tried to get her to kill Spike, or that he tried to burn her in the ceremony hall that day. He thought that Vicious was his best friend, but really, he never was. And Spike only made things worse by falling in love with Julia while she was with Vicious. If Vicious tried to hurt her ever again... He didn't even know what he would do to him. Probably kill him faster than anything. Vicious would die tonight, if it was the last thing Spike did! But what of his alliances? How would they accept the new order? Would they even accept it at all? What about that one guy? Imperfection? Imperfect? Imperfectly? Well, whatever his name was, he was second on "the list". How dare he go on and pretend to be Spike! He couldn't even get the hair right!

There was suddenly a huge explosion from behind them. It was Julia's car. Spike grabbed plastic explosives. He threw four or five behind them and a few in front of them and then threw Julia and himself behind a wall as everything exploded at the same time. A group of men came from the door on that wall. At first they didn't notice Julia and Spike just sitting there. But then Spike yelled, "Climb for the roof! Up those stairs!" Then he shot down the one guy who actually looked up.

Spike ducked into the room that the guys ran out of and planted a few bombs and detonated them quickly, then he chased Julia up the steep staircase. It was then that he realized that Julia was defenseless.

"Why didn't you tell me that you didn't have anything to protect yourself with?" He asked her.

"Like what? A shield?" She replied sarcastically, brushing some of the ashes off of her sweater.

Spike once again gave her a handgun and they continued racing up the long flight of stairs until they came to a small door that opened up to the roof, and they climbed up.

It was raining, but only a little. All was quiet. They closed the door behind them and ran as fast as their legs would carry them. They ran across two more roofs and jumped down when they got to the end of the block, where Julia's car was parked.

"Are you okay?" Spike asked, his face covered in ash from all of his bombing. He looked at Julia with a somewhat worried expression in his eyes, but they were still playful.

Julia was breathing hard, and pulled and inhaler out of the glove box. "Yeah... I'm... Okay. Are... you okay? You look tired."

"I am." Spike laughed gently. He hadn't seen excitement like that for three years. "I'm exhausted!"

Julia laughed and smiled. She was excited too. And it was better because Spike was finally at her side again.

Suddenly, Spike got really somber again. "Julia..." He stopped and held her close to him. He kissed her forehead. "Julia..."

Julia rubbed his back softly. "It's alright, we're gonna be okay." Then she broke down into tears and Spike lifted her head and kissed her ferociously. ((AN: you know, like Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayak in Desparado))

When they stopped it was late. It was dark and they had to go to sleep sometime, so they drove off onto a remote road and parked in a ditch where they slept until morning.

**And the bitter smell of burning was on him like a disease...**


End file.
